North
by EyeGlue
Summary: What if Celaena had listened to Wesley and not attacked Farran after Sam's death? Where would she go?
1. Chapter 1

_"I'm not talking about Arobynn. Use your head and think, Celaena!"_

She wanted to push past him. She wanted to shout and scream and tear out the throats of the men who'd taken Sam. And she would've, but Wesley looked at her the way no one had in a long time, not for nine years...

"It's a trap Celaena, Sam wouldn't want you to throw your life away!"

No, he wouldn't. But Sam was the only part of her life worth living. Was it possible to rise from the shadows that walked beside her every day. Or was Sam the straw that broke the Camel's back? Orlon, her parents, Marion, Ben, the little girl she used to be... now Sam. Tears filled her eyes and trickled down her face, making her cheekbones glisten like knives under a veil waiting to attack. Wesley caught her forearms as she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

"What do I do now, Wesley? Where do I go from here?"

"North"

Her head shot up, the red rimmed eyes searching for some clue as to how he knew. All of a sudden her mind was transported to the heavenly white peaks of the Staghorn Mountains, the dancing forests of Oakwald, Orynth's white Towers...home. And in her heart she saw the eyes that mirrored her own in the boyish face of her cousin. He'd be a man now, a General if the rumours were to be believed. He probably thought she was dead.

A small purse was pressed into her hand.

"Go"

And she went, not knowing what the North would bring, only treasuring the freedom it might of offered both her and Sam. She would never love like she had loved Sam, and one day Arobynn Hamel and Rourke Farran would feel every cut and bruise Sam had suffered. Then she'd send them to hell, where Sam could take his own revenge. She hoped Sam was in hell, it was the only way she'd see him again. But it was unlikely, Sam had been a perfect soul caught in imperfect circumstances. If that was the case then she would simply hold him in her heart and remember.


	2. Chapter 2

**Aedion POV:**

There's a blizzard outside. Poor bastards on duty have it cold. Why we're in the Mountains is beyond me, but that usurping son of a bitch demands it so that is what I must do. To put it briefly, I'm his bitch. Ardalan's Whore. I can live with it. I have to. If I have to yield my dignity, my honour, my life to protect my people then that is what I'll do. I couldn't save Aelin, she was my only responsibility and I failed. When the King finally kills me I will rejoice, I do not care where I am bound after so long as it's to her. The sooner we leave these mountains the better, I can almost hear her name carried on the wind, the echoes of a distant past. When the King kills me, I'll take him with me. I'll punch his teeth right down to his lungs, he doesn't have a heart. the My fingers trace the simple sketch of her running down the halls with flames dancing along her fingertips. She could never sit still for portraits, but Evalyn knew her well. This sketch is the only thing I saved from that long forgotten paradise. I have the Sword of Orynth, but it's not mine, it has always been her's.

 **Celaena POV:**

I've arrived. The storm is howling and and I howl with it in delight. I'm home. My skin is red with cold, but I don't care. For this one moment I am free. The fortress where the Bane are posted is within sight and I do not know what to do. My entire journey was focused on getting here and now I am the butterflies have sprung loose in my stomach, spring thawing at winter's glory. But it's too late to turn back, and a possessive, animal part of me cries out for kith and kin. The grey stone walls tower above me, everything is a shade of grey, from the mud tracked snow to the uniforms of the guards who detain me. They ask my business and I tell them.

"I am here to see Aedion, I believe you know him as General Ashryver?", I purred, smiling darkly at the look they shared. My cousin was a manslut, no mistake. They stutter and hurry me to a room with a fire blazing within.

"Wait here." Then I am alone and I wait, staring into the flames. They're old friends, these flames, and I remember the days when they would trail from the tips of my fingers dancing a jig, a waltz or whatever took my fancy. But these flames are quiet dead things, lacking the spark and life that mine had. Will Aedion be the same? Do I want him to be the same?

The door opens.

 **Aedion POV:**

The guard interrupt my musings. That pisses me off. I'm told there's a woman who wants to see me. Probably some prostitute that's annoyed that I didn't pay her enough. That or a grieving widow who lost her husband in the fighting. I can't stomach either right now, but something in my gut tells me to go. I look at Aelin's picture one last time. So beautiful...

The guard leads me to a room and opens the door, before nodding his head and leaving. I look at the woman gazing into the fire, the expression on her face is almost intimate. She's covered by a dark cloak that conceals all but the side of her face from me. I can see some suspicious bumps beneath the cloak. She's armed. And if her stance is anything to go by she knows how to use them. She lowers the hood and turns slowly, her eyes downcast. There's something familiar about her, though the mud stains from her travel could render her unrecognisable to anyone. Then she looks up and her eyes meets mine.

I - she - her - they... I do know her.

I'm staring into a dream, a fantasy. She is my mirror image. The other side of the same coin. I suck in a breath.

"Aelin"

 **Aelin POV**

Aedion looks at me. As if he's seen a ghost. He probably has, me. His eyes are wide and I see the spirit that we both share in them, ragged and torn, and broken and scarred, but kindred - like fire rippling around and endless blue ocean.

"Aelin"

He whispers it in shock and it breaks me. The sad smile on my face is mirrored in his own. We both approach each other, slowly at first. Then I am in his arms and he is in mine, my kith, my kin, my blood, my cousin...my brother.

"How - what happened" he asks me. So I tell him and for once, I hold nothing back.

 **Aedion POV:**

I don't know what to feel. I don't even know if I can. Feel, that is. But, as she weaves this intricate horror story that not even the devil would believe, I find myself surrendering to the feelings that had fled my body as surely as magic fled the continent. Anger, pain, regret. Hope and despair. She is not my fiery Princess any longer. She is a girl, broken and scarred by the world and left empty. But somewhere, there is an ember that could fan into flame and burn down this Empire of lies.

"What now?"

"I don't know. I know I can't be that girl anymore, the princess. But I can't be Celaena either."

"Then be a Queen"

 _ **AN:** Should I continue? I have some ideas. What do you think should happen next. Please review. :)_


	3. Chapter 3

Aelin POV:

The wind's howling again. Again? It never stops here. I'll die of a headache before hypothermia even touches me. We're leaving soon though. His Majesty wishes Aedion's arse in Rifthold and we must keep up appearances. Aedion doesn't want me to come, but I have to. After a year with him in the Staghorns he has become everything he was before, my other half. I've dyed my hair specially for the occasion, it's now a deep crimson colour, like wine, like Ansel's.

I also found another excellent part of my disguise- contact lenses. A trader from the southern continent was trading them in Rifthold last year and I kept them on me just in case. They turn my eyes a regular, dull hazel. I think Aedion is laughing to himself, I always was a vain creature. It's a sincere tragedy that my most striking features are the ones most notice in my cousin. Had I gone alone it might not have been noticed, but together...

The plan is for me to pose as Aedion's lady friend. With his reputation it's not exactly unbelievable, though holding on to one woman for more than a night will no doubt cause quite the scandal. I do so love a scandal, I love causing a scandal even more. Whilst Aedion is in the castle kissing ass, I will undergo thorough investigation into the various piss-poor rebel movements occurring in the gutters. After finding and, undoubtedly, dismissing all these groups as useless I will hunt down Rourke Farran and tear him to pieces, he won't be expecting me this time. As for Arobynn, I can't face him yet. But when I do, I will rip every detail about the last ten years that he has caged where his heart should be.

I don't know why Aedion wants to seek out the rebel groups. He believes that some members of my Uncle's inner circle survived. There's a slim chance they did and an even slimmer chance that we'll find them. But if Elide... no, she can't be alive, but _if_ she was she'd be the only one I'd want to see. We were never close, she was a weak and shy little thing and I always looked down on her for it. After Marion died, though, I wanted nothing more than to tell her and beg her forgiveness.


End file.
